Horse-releaser.



G. E. BEAVER. HORSE BELEAS ER. APPLICATION FILED JAN. 7 190?.

929,27 5. Patented July 27, 1909.

......... sum! 00,, Hiewumosmmsna WASNINGTOH. n c

UNITED STATES PATENT @EFTQE.

CHARLES E. BEAVER, OF BURNHAM, PENNSYLVANIA.

HORSE-RELEASER.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that l, Crmnnns E. BEAVER, citizen of the United States,residing at Burnham, in the county of Mi'tllin, State of Pennsylvania,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in T-lorselteleasers;and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exactdescription of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in theart to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to devices for detachably coupling the thills orlike devices to the running of a vehicle, and arranged to be instantlyreleased in event of the horse becoming unruly or attempting to runaway, and has for one of its objects to simplify and improve theconstruction and increase the efficiency and utility of devices of thischaracter.

With this and other objects in view the invention consists in certainnovel features of construction as hereafter shown and described and thenspecifically pointed out in the claim, and in the drawings illustrativeof the preferred embodiment of the invention, Figure l is a sideelevation of the forward portion of the running gear includ' the forwardaxle, a portion of the body or box including the seat, and portionsthills, with the improved device applied. Fig. L is a plan view of theparts shown in Fig. 1.

The improved device may be applied to any of the various forms ofvehicles, either single or double horse rigs without material structuralchanges, but for the purpose of illustration is shown applied to asingle horse vehicle in which 10 represents the forward axle, 11 thebody or box having a seat 12, and 13 represents the thills which areprovided with the usual thill irons 1%15 arranged between the ears onclips 1617, these parts being substantially of the usual form.

Slidably disposed through the ears of the clips 16l7 are bolts 18 19 bymeans of which the thill irons are coupled to the clips, the boltshaving shoulders 20-21 at their inner ends to limit their outwardmovement, as hereafter explained.

Connected to the axle 10 at points spaced from opposite sides of itscenter are clips Sn-23, the lower plates of which extend forwardly andreceive bolts 2l25. Arranged forwardly of the axle 10 are two leversSpecification of Letters Patent.

Application filed January '7, 1909.

Patented July 2'7, 1909.

Serial No. 471,124.

2G 2'i overlapping at their inner ends, and coupled by a single bolt 28.The lever 26 is provided with a longitudinal slot 29 bearing over thebolt 2%, while the lever 27 is provided with a similar longitudinal slot30 bearing over the bolt 25.

The levers 2627 are separated from the bottom plates of the clips 2223by spacing washers 3l-32 and held in position by nuts engaging the boltsabove the levers, as shown. The outer ends of the levers 2G 27 areconnected to the bolts l8l9 by rods 333.i, the rods being swinginglycoupled to the levers and the bolts.

Mounted for oscillation in the bottom of the box 11 is a shaft 44:having a lever arm 35 extending rearwardly at an incline from one end,and an arm 36 extending downwardly through the bottom of the box at theother end. The lever arm 35 will be located convenient to the hand ofthe driver upon the seat 12, and will be arranged when not in usebeneath the upper edge of the body 11, so that it will not be in the wayof the driver.

The free end of the arm 36 is provided with a loop 37 and connected inthis loop by sewing or riveting is a strap 38, the other end of thestrap provided with a clip 39 connected to the bolt 28. Springs to n areconnected between the axle and the levers 26 2'? to maintain themyieldably in their withdrawn position with the bolts 18 l?) in closedposition, and coupled to the thill irons ll15.

Connected to the body 11 is a stop member L2 against which the arm 36engages when moved into its forward position, to limit the moven'ient ofthe arm. fin additional spring may be applied between the body 11 andthe arm 36 if preferred.

lVit-h a device thus constructed. it will be obvious that so long as thedraft animal is moving under normal conditions, the springs 4lO4 l willretain the bolts l8lS- in coupled relations to the thill irons, but inevent of the draft animal becoming unruly, the driver by simply movingthe lever arm 35 forwardly will cause the arm 36 to impart a pullingstrain upon the strap 38, and move the united inner ends of the levers26-2T rea nvardly beneath the axle and cause the levers to move inwardlyby the action of the slots 28-29, and likewise draw the rods 32-33inwardly and withdraw the bolts 18-19 from engagement with the thillirons and release the draft animal.

The improved device is simple in construction, can be inexpensivelymanufactured, and applied Without material structural changes tovehicles of various sizes, and to vehicles employed for variouspurposes, and it is not desired to limit the application of theinvention to any specific form of vehicle.

lVhat is claimed, is

In a device of the class described, the combination With the forwardaxle of a vehicle, clips connected to the axle near the ends and eachclip including spaced apertured ears, pins slidable through said ears, adraft appliance including members located between said ears and engagedby said pins,

two arms pivotally united at their inner ends and provided withlongitudinal slots inter mediate their ends, clips connected to saidaxle and spaced at each side of the center thereof, studs carried bysaid clips and eX- tending through said slots, rods movably, connectedat their ends to said'pins and to the outer ends of said arms, aflexible element connected to said arms at their pivoted ends, and meansunder the control of the driver for actuating said flexible element. Intestimony whereof, I afiix my signature, in presence of two Witnesses.

CHARLES E. BEAVER. l Vitnesses MILES GANOE, E. U. HAMiLTON.

